The MLC, also known as the Mechanical Licensing Collective, is a non-profit organization that works with DSP's (digital streaming platforms) to license and pay out the mechanical share of royalties to writers and publishers. Mechanical royalties are generated on streaming and download platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc..
By joining The MLC (free of cost), music rights holders are provided a membership portal to register their songs as well as match them to any associated recordings. The MLC has developed and maintains a public database of songs, writers and publishers and recordings across all streaming platforms. It is important to become a member of the MLC, register songs and match them to recordings in order to access and receive mechanical royalties for your music.
If you are working with a publisher or publishing administrator, (or CMO outside of the United States), it is their responsibility to register your songs at The MLC on your behalf. If you are a self-administered writer, you are essentially acting as your own publisher and are responsible for becoming a member of The MLC and registering your catalog.
You can connect your MLC account to your Mogul account from your Sources page. We not only help identify and fix your missing registrations at The MLC, but we also match your songs to associated recordings for you. Learn more about our MLC Auto Matching Tool in this article.